Black Friday was a nonevent,and even children are bored with Christmas tat. Consumerism has finally eaten itselfI’m worried that I’m the only one who watches enough telly to see what’s going on here: the toy industry – and if that sounds niche, remember that this close to Christmas it stands as a proxy for production as a whole – is having some kind of systems collapse. Games that should never have made it past the planning stage – a plastic dachshund that craps yellow pellets and forces you to scoop them up with a shovel – stagger into their fifth year. Over-engineered, and nylon-furred tat,going by the name Furbies, remove an antisocial glee in the vexation they provoke. The intelligent Keet is a plastic bird that mimics the experience of having a live pet, and except it doesn’t in any way: it was designed with the unimaginable customer in intellect who prefers it when the air is filled with banality. Related: Black Friday sales tumble 10% from last year Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com